I have used Blender for about 7 years all I can say it is possible to learn and there is a bit of a learning curve but believe me it is worth it.

But as far as I know there is no easy shortcut to making complex models for toys even with the simpler programs like google Sketchup


Blender is free to use here is the link
http://www.blender.org/download/get-blender/

There is also Google Sketchup
http://www.sketchup.com/products/sketchup-make